Railway-ticket



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J'. SEBASTAN it B. B. ANDERSON. RAILWAY TICKET.

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M MQW? am amfww. r, ..wwr w kf. M 2%@ j a g w im m; 9 y? w y?? Z gw W7UNITED STATES PATENT EEICE.

JOHN SEBASTIAN AND BENJAMIN B.

ANDERSON, or chiosco, ILLINOIS.

RAILWAY-TICKET. v

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 597,224, dated January11, 1898.

Application filed March l 8 189 '7.

T0 ctZZ wwnt t may concern-.-

Be it known that we, JOHN SEBASTIAN and BENJMIIN B. Aubusson, citizensof the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook andState of Illinois, have invented a-neW and useful Improvement inRailway-Tickets, of which the following is a speciiication. Y

Our invention relates to an improvement in railwaymickets, moreespecially of the coupon type, for use over connecting railways, thoughcertain features of the improvement are adapted to use with localtickets as Well.

Our object is twofold: first, to provide a ticket the return portion ofwhich shall be forwarded by the issuing company to the destinationagent, there to be by him delivered to the purchaser in time for thereturn trip after satisfactory identification, and, second, Where theticketis for passage over connecting railways, to provide couponscorrespondcoupons and suitably marked for their purpose to be forwardedpromptly to the auditors of the various lines interested. These *IwofeaturesJ taken in conjunction, contribute to the production of a ticketwhich it is practically impossible to scalp or in anyway manipulate inan unauthorized manner. Moreover, the feature of the auditorsadvicechecks (foreign as Well as local) makes it posisible to furnishthe roads interested with notice of sales promptly, a thing which hasnot been practicable heretofore because of the clumsiness of the systemin use.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a face vieur of theupper portion of our improved ticket as adapted for use over connectingrailways, the portion being separated at the line l on Fig. 3; Fig. 2, asimilar vieur ofthe remaining portion of the ticket, and Fig. 3 a planview showing the sections of the ticket herein described.

The preferred construction is that shown, involving the use of a stripconstituting the going-ticket With certain necessary coupons attached,and byits side and detachablyconnectcd with it a strip constituting thereturnticket with certain other coupons attached to it. The ticketillustrated is one from Buf- Ing in essential characteristics to thepassage- Serial No. 628,199. (No model.)

falo to Denver and return via the Michigan Central and Chicago, Rockisland and Pacific railways.

A is the going-ticket, comprising the contract portion B, anexchange-coupon C, passagefcoupons D and E, and an anditors advice-checkF, to be taken up by the first conductor.

G is the return-ticket, comprising a conH tract portion Il,passagecoupons I and J, joint agents advice-check K, auditorsadvice-checks L and M, and agents stub N.

The portion B contains the necessary terms of contract, and one of theterms of the contract would ordinarily be an agreement on the part ofthe purchaser to present the attached coupon C, calling for the returnportion of the ticket to the joint or destination agent at a designatedtime, and upon .satisfying said agent as to his identity to receive fromhim said return-ticket.

The portion C amounts practically to an order upon the joint agent forthe returnticket and is signed by the general passeir ger agent of theissuing line.

The parts D and E are ordinary going-coupons for passage over the tivoroads interested.

The coupon F is designed to be taken up bythe rst conductor of theissuing line and by him forwarded at once to his auditor as an advicethat the ticket has been put into actual use.

The return-ticket is suitably marked to indicate that it is to bedetached by the selling agent, who is to retain his stub N and for- Wardthe remainder to his auditor.

The portion H contains the necessary terms of contract, and is furtherprovided with a descriptive identifying-section H' and a blan k for thepurchasers signature.

The parts l and J are ordinary return-coupons for passage from Denver toBuffalo over the two roads interested.

The part K is intended to be kept by the destination or joint agent andis preferably supplied with a purchasers signature-blank.

The parts L and M are auditors advicechecks suitably marked to indicatethat they are to be sent to the auditors of the various IOO roadsinterested. Herein lies one of the important features of this invention,since by the provision of these auditors advice-checks corresponding tothe passagecoupons over the several roads and marked to indicate theirpurpose means is afforded for supplying prompt notice to the interestedroads of all tickets sold, thus enabling them to make the proper creditsand char-ges without the usual thirty to ninety days delay incident tothe clumsiness of the system heretofore in use.

The method of using our improved ticket is as follows: When a sale ismade, the selling agent secures the purchasers signature to the blankprovided on the section H and punches the proper words in the section Hto give the purchasers description. He then detaches the entire half(marked Gr) and, re-

taining the agents stub, (marked N,) forwards the remainder to theauditor of the issuing line. The auditor of the issuing line retainsthecoupon M for his information, and immediately forwards the remainder tothe auditor of the terminal line,who detaches and retains the advice-coupon (marked L) and forwards the remainder to the joint ticket agent atdestination. It will be observed that the going portion A is notsupplied with a signature for the purchaser, it being the purpose toretain in the possession of the companies the only portion of the ticketwhich bears the purchasers signature and description. flien thepurchaser presents the ticket A for passage, the first conductor of theissuing line detaches the auditors advice-check (marked F) and forwardsit to his auditor. Any delay on the part of the selling agent to send inthe return half of the ticket would of course be discovered upon receiptof the iirst conductors coupon. The passage-coupon E is taken up by thelast conductor of the issuing` line. The contract may provide that theexchange-coupon is not to be presented for redemption within a certainnumber of days after the purchaser has reached his destination. At thetime agreed upon, however, and Within the'period of limitation, thepurchaser is required to present the exchange-coupon in person. Thejoint agent, with the holder of the coupon standing before him, is ableto vsee at a glance whether his description tallies with that of thepurchaser. Herein is one great advantage of our improved ticket, forwith tickets heretofore in use this identification has been made beforethe conductor, and

ties, and it appears, therefore, that' the holder of theexchange-coupon, unless he were the original purchaser, would be unableto duplicate it.

It is evident that this system maybe extended for use over any number ofconnecting lines by supplying additional coupons, in which case theauditors advice-coupons of the intermediate railways would be detachedby the auditor of the issuing line and forwarded to the proper auditorsat the same time that the return-ticketis forwarded to the auditor ofthe terminal line. Moreover, if it is desired to save time the properdistribution of the various coupons may be made by the sellingagentwithout the'necessity of any parts, except those properly for the adviceof the auditors alone, passing first through their hands.

It will be seen that the system, the employment of which is madepossible by the ticket here described, making provisiomfas it does, forthe retention of the return-ticket by the railway companies and itsdelivery only upon the most rigid scrutiny and then only in time for thereturn trip, will practically do away with scalping and, in fact, anyunauthorized manipulation, since no person will invest money wrongfullywith the extreme probability of losing it.

Minor changes in the structure of the ticket and in the method of usemay be made, and

we wish, therefore, in thus minutely describing our invention to beunderstood as in no sense limiting ourselves in matter of details,except as shall appear from the appended claims.

What we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In 'a ticket for passage over connecting railroads, the combinationwith the coupons for passage over the several roads, ofdetachably-connected auditors advice-checks corresponding in essentialcharacteristics to said passage-coupons and each having thereon aninscription directing it to be sent to the proper auditor, whereby thevarious auditors interested may be furnished with prompt advice ofsales, as and for the purpose specified.

2. In a ticket for passage over connecting railroads, the combination ofa coupon return ticket having purchaser identifying marks upon it, agoing-ticket provided with coupons for passage over the several roads,and auditors advice-coupons corresponding in essential characteristicsto said passagecoupons and each supplied with an inscription directingit to be sent to the proper auditor, said parts being detachable, as andfor the purpose set forth.

3. The combination of a going-ticket A and a return-ticket G, saidgoing-ticket comprising a contract portion B, exchange-coupon C,passage-coupons D and E and an auditors advice-check F, and thereturn-ticket comprising a contract portion H, passage-coupons ICOrailroads, the combination with the coupons for passage over thesevera-1 roads, of detachably connected foreign auditors adviseeheoksooi-responding in essentiel characteristies to sst-id passage-coupons,whereby the Various auditors interested may be furnished ro with promptadvice of sales, as and for the purpose specified.

JOHN SEBASTIAN. f BENJAMIN B. ANDERSON.

In presence 0f- J. H. LEE, RICHARD SPENCER.

